M. H. West & Co., Inc.’s Marilyn West and Joe Armstrong attended the Retail Merchants Association’s First Forum Series. The focus was PR for Small Business and featured a Panel of Professionals who offered Tips on Getting the Word Out About Your Business . Held at the Westin Richmond, the meeting was well attended with standing room only. Participating were Lisa Schaffner, the Director of Public Relations and Marketing for UNOS, who served as moderator of the panel of other professionals who included: Greg Gillian of the Richmond Times Dispatch, Aaron Kremer of RichmondBizSense.com, Bernard Niemeier of Virginia Business Magazine, Sean Ryan of Hobbs & Associates and Phaedra Hise a freelance writer who formerly wrote for Inc. Magazine. The panelists offered their perspectives on approaches and strategies for grabbing the attention of the editors and writers of daily and monthly newspapers and other publications, distinguishing between news and PR. Takeaways for Joe, who counts marketing among his responsibilities at WEST, include building relationships with your local media, designing compelling stories and limiting the outlets receiving the material. Finally, Joe found the diversity in talent of the panelists added to the quality of the program.